When Tess follows an unnamed little girl through the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, she transcends time to search for answers about the disappearance of her mother...thirteen years ago. For months, Tess has experienced vivid dreams that have taken her to Rio's Carnival, the beaches of Brazil and to the mountaintop statue of Cristo Redentor. Her nighttime travels have also brought home souvenirs like sand in her bed, and fingerprint bruises that circle her wrists like bracelets. Back in the snowy Colorado Rockies, her stateside boyfriend and her grandmother attempt to keep Tess anchored in this reality. What Tess does not realize is that the little girl that she encounters is actually the younger version of herself. She is the conduit between their parallel lives and reveals the life Tess would have endured if her mother kept her in South America. The Conduit explores the possibility of alternative realities and the powerful pull of love and the bond between mothers and daughters-despite separation of time and space.